A host of new suburban railway stations served by a £200m “Cardiff Crossrail” could be a solution to the capital’s traffic gridlock woes, say two experts.

A host of new suburban railway stations served by a £200m “Cardiff Crossrail” could be a solution to the capital’s traffic gridlock woes.

That’s according to Cardiff South and Penarth’s Labour AM Vaughan Gething and transport consultant Mark Barry.

In a joint paper, they say 150,000 people across Cardiff – especially in the east from Roath to St Mellons – are not connected to the regional rail network.

And with 45,500 new homes planned by 2026 in the Local Development Plan (LDP), Cardiff needs to develop a transport network for a city with more than 400,000 people.

“Whilst the benefits of Valley Line Electrification to the valleys are clear – including faster and more frequent journeys to Cardiff – the benefits for Cardiff residents are more limited,” the pair write.

“In places like Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT), Caerphilly and The Vale of Glamorgan, who will have the larger part of their populations served by the newly electrified valley rail network, the average number of people per rail station is 11,000 to 12,000, the figure in Cardiff is over 17,000.

“So, Cardiff, with a transport network designed for a city with less than 300,000 people needs to develop a network for one with more than 400,000 at the heart of a city region of 1.4 million.

“One project that could begin to deliver a solution is a ‘Cardiff Crossrail’ to provide ‘metro’ services across the city.”

An east to west service connecting St Mellons to Junction 33 of the M4 would use electrified relief lines east of Cardiff Central, the city line and the reinstatement of the old track from Fairwater to Creigiau.

A complementary north to south service, they argue, would operate from Junction 32 on the Coryton line to Cardiff Bay, interchanging at Callaghan Square.

By adopting European-style tram-train technology – rail vehicles that can run on normal electrified heavy rail and on street in “tram mode” – the crossrail would also enable the light rail link between the city centre and Bay.

This includes “on street” running south of Cardiff Central between Tyndall Street and the Taff rail bridge, a realigned tram-train route which could extend to the International Sports Village.

“Combined with a turn up and go frequency of four trains per hour using new high quality electric tram-train stock and park and rides at J32, J33 and St Mellons, a Cardiff Crossrail will attract many new passengers to the rail network,” the paper says.

“Furthermore, by integrating bus services across the city (especially Fairwater, St Mellons and Rumney) on a single ticket, then a truly integrated transport system begins to emerge.”

They say the estimated £150m to £200m cost is affordable and could be delivered incrementally over a period of about 10 years.

Given the 45,500 new homes planned for Cardiff could secure sales of about £6bn, the pair state “it would not appear unreasonable or unrealistic to secure a proportion of this value to contribute to the overall costs of the Cardiff Crossrail project”.

Given the Welsh Government is exploring the South Wales Metro concept, the time is right, they say, to put forward projects such as Cardiff Crossrail.

“However, to make it a reality, the Cardiff Crossrail scheme must be identified as one of a small number of strategic ‘metro projects’ alongside, for example, Ebbw Vale to Newport, Cross Valley Bus Rapid Transit and perhaps a Valleys Circle Line.”

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